IBM Client Acces Express 5.2

Hello, I have a question if anyone can help me with client access express. I have created a msi pacakge with wise package studio that works fine. I have distribute this msi with the AD and it works fine. But when i remove it from the machine i get an windows installer message 2738. The msi package is trying to do something with windows host scripting, but i cannot find the error.

Is there anyone who can help me to make a nice package from client access express 5.2.

Comments

Answers

0

Hi,

If it's "Could not access VBScript runtime for custom action [CUSTOMACTIONNAME]" then it's probably because Windows Scripting Host (WSH) isn't installed on the target machine. v5.6 is part of XP but I'm not sure about for previous OS versions.

Sejacru,
out of curiosity, how did you manage to repackage CAE? Did you wrap a custom action, or ran snapshot/ monitoring?
I know CAE uses IBM's proprietary procedures to register their dll's, and requires admin logon post install (can get around that req, though). Overall, its original setup experience is pretty bad, according to user forums. Especially IBM's suggestion "If automated deployment via answer file fails, do a manual deployment instead" doesn't quite cut it for the enterprise environment, does it?

Which SI# did you use?
CAE is the only app that goes onto base image in my company. Even when we pushed it through SMS ("setup.exe -s -sms"), it was failing in about 15% of deployments, which was straight plain unacceptable.[:'(]

I have a package that works for 99%. Deployment is computerbased. I ran snapshot/monitoring in wise package studio 5.5. After repackiging the application on minor issues the package lets it self install through AD. I was very pleased with this because in march i had tried to package the app also and then it was a hell. I
did nothing different then i did in march (i think?). Deinstalling the package also works fine, but the pc is not working as good as before the installation. I know this because after the deinstall i tried to install the app again. This is going very wrong. I still get the windows installer error 2738. Rob tells me to install wsh 5.6 on a test machine, so Thursday (28-07-2005) iÃ‚Â´m trying this.

What you wrote to me about the access of vbscript in custom action is according to me the problem. My question is: Do i have to make a package off wsh 5.6 and push it before i push the client access msi or.....???

Well, comrade...
About 18 months ago I spent two weeks attempting to repackage CAE with Wininstall 2000 LE. That didn't fly too well.
Now, after your post, I hit it off with InstallShield. From what I can see, the first attempt with InstallShield was a surprising success.

Not sure what may cause your package to fail on uninstall. The only thing I can think of is that CAE modifies environment variable PATH. Check its value after removal of CAE, 'cause it may cause problems.

Also check the log - nothing gives you more clues when you don't know where to start.

I used a little bit different approach to repackaging CAE.
First of all, I slip-streamed the latest service pack into V5R2.
I created an .iss answer file for unattended setup of the application through the original installer. The .iss file provides standard package configuration that goes to our workstations.
On XP stations, set DriverSigning policy to Ignore Ã¢Â€Â“ otherwise Print driver will fail.
My packaging tool of choice was InstallShield Repackager, the Installation Monitoring option.

=== start capture or monitoring here ===

Run setup.exe Ã¢Â€Â“s Ã¢Â€Â“sms
After the installation, the registryÃ¢Â€Â™s HKLMÃ¢Â€Â™s Run entries generated by the application installer need to be removed, with the exception of the service entry cwbsvstr.exe (otherwise macros may fail inside the emulator).
Since one of the Run entries is actually meant to be RunOnce, and is responsible for handling dll registration on first logon (therefore, original setup required administrative logon after the application deployment), we need to kick off dll registration to eliminate admin context logon dependency. Do not mark CAE dllÃ¢Â€Â™s for self-registration inside the MSI package Ã¢Â€Â“ IBM uses its own registration modules; regsvr32.exe wonÃ¢Â€Â™t handle those. Instead, run cwbsreg.exe. This executable will read the dll registration queue out of the cwbsreg.ini file. HereÃ¢Â€Â™s the content of our .ini file (from a Win2k station, not sure if it translates environment variables inside the .ini file):

Once you run cwbsreg.exe, the .ini file gets removed. Now, CAE does not require a reboot after the installation.
Make cosmetic changes as you please (pre-configuration, shortcuts, restrictions, session definitions).

=== stop capturing or monitoring; process the package ===

Restore your original Driver signing policy setting.
Crack open a beer Ã¢Â€Â“ you are about to get into the fun part. Compile the MSI file. Do your editing & tweaking.

I am yet to revisit some issues here & there, specifically the implications of having oem#.inf & oem#.pnf files dropped onto a PC, and potential naming conflicts due to that. From what I can see, the .msi works just fine for both installation & uninstallation.

If your .msi file captured .isuÃ¢Â€Â™s created during legacy setup process, I can send you two uninstaller .vbs scripts that I wrote to remove CAE in unattended mode (one scans the registry to determine how to remove CAE, another works off the file system, and does a better job for Ã¢Â€Âœblown upÃ¢Â€Â or partial installations of CAE). Worst case, you can uninstall CAE through custom actions then.

Also, if you are familiar with the SMS Installer, you might find the following script listing useful for automation of your setup. I designed it for CAE roll-out/ upgrade within our environment, and I only do very basic error handling, but it should give you some guidance.

Manual registration is not required if you plan to have reboot following the installation prior to post-snapshot. I prefer to package without reboots (packages generally turn out cleaner, plus I get a better idea of what the original setup does)

Anyway, another pitfall with CAE is the following registry key:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\NetworkProvider\Order

If you leave it at "remove on uninstall", you'll end up with computers constantly rebooting. So keep your eyes open, and your job will be safe [;)]

Any plans for v5r3 yet? We are going full production early September, want to see what kind of setup comes with this one...

I'm done with it for now. The package works fine in the alpha environment. I slacked off in a couple of places, but the functionality doesn't seem to be affected.
No plans to push it out, considering v5r3 is one month away from now. I've already been bugging my colleagues about the media for v5r3, so we are trying to collectively track it down. Once I have the CDs, I'll get right on it.
Wish me luck in search for those holy CDs[8D]

Bummer...
http://www-03.ibm.com/support/techdocs/atsmastr.nsf/WebIndex/FQ101300
Does look like they stopped shipping CD's. I just went through unpacking 40+ bags in search for CAE CD's. Couldn't find those [&:]

slipstream the service pack in the original msi, ran cwsreg and still when uninstalling the app my computer hangs. I tried to install the app again through the msi and i still get the error 2783. Nothing added or removed from the exclusion list but i think may be the is my problem? I don't know anymore what to do? Can you help me on the way..

update:

i found out that, when uninstalling the installation, there are some hkcr\clsid keys that will be deleted. Something about msvbvm50.dll, msvbvm60.dll, and vbscript.dll. This explains why i get vbscript errors, but why does wise capture these. Is the standard exclusion list not good enought? What keys do you have in the hkcr? I can compare those results so i have the right keys.

Thanks for that very valuable web link.
Half a year ago I had a package which caused a few machines to bring up the Internal Error 2738 as well. And after reintalling the Windows Scripting Host, it worked.
Now I have the same issue with a couple of machines when I try to install a newer version of the same software (with a repackaged msi including a vbscript).
However, it no longer helps resolving the problem when installing the Windows Scripting Host.

Is there a way to check the Windows Scripting Host any further? Unfortunately there isn't any newer version of WSH I could play with...

I'm working on repackaging of IBM Client Access Express V5R3 with update SI20055. I tried procedure as described revizor and repackaging was successful just with one problem: When I finished with repackaging, I made *.bat to try if it is allright and it was. But when I tried to deploy CAExpress via Group Policy (it is the way we are deploying software in our company) happend this: When I try to launch anything (for example : iSeries Navigator) it doesn't launch the aplication but window with Please wait until Windows Installer finish with configuring .... (or something similar). Does anyone have an idea, what i did wrong?

I used Installshield Repackager on WinXP Pro SP2 with snapshot method of repackaging.

Charlie,
chances are not all of the components have been properly installed. Eventlog may give you better leads. Or, in your case, push a policy to turn on Windows Installer logging - it can get granular. Also, see which files may be substituted by merge modules - I recall there were at least 4-5 of those.

BTW, sejacru - we reverted to V5R2. Turns out IBM changed functionality of macro pads in V5R3 - they do not resize buttons. In our org it's a big deal, so the whole entire deployment had to be rolled back [:(] I wasted my time for nothing.

Well, I checked the Eventlog and I found two warnings logged. 1st one told me the component{....}failed. The resource {...} doesn't exist. The 2nd told me the feature '...' failed during request for component {....}. I checked the installer's component table and no one of them is missing. I checked SDK as well and unfortunately I didn't find there anything useful. I'm out of ideas, in trouble too, the deadline when I have to finish this is closing.

Mazbe one more note: When I launch the application and wait until Windows Installer configures the application, after some time it stops on moment, when installer couldn't find the original package.

Well, I checked the Eventlog and I found two warnings logged. 1st one told me the component{....}failed. The resource {...} doesn't exist. The 2nd told me the feature '...' failed during request for component {....}. I checked the installer's component table and no one of them is missing. I checked SDK as well and unfortunately I didn't find there anything useful. I'm out of ideas, in trouble too, the deadline when I have to finish this is closing.

There's your problem. Open your package in ORCA or any .msi table editor of your choice, and search for that feature. Examine component references there and compare those with the state of your target system. You might have deleted (?key?) components out of that feature while cleaning up your package... Is the component in question a file or a registry setting? Any way it can be substituted for a merge module? Are files external to your package, or inside .cab/.msi?

On the issue where it can't find the original package - does it take the .msi file when you point the installer to it? If not, see if you modified the version # on the package (or a product code, for that matter) - you might have to sync your registry settings with the package attributes...

You might have deleted (?key?) components out of that feature while cleaning up your package...
Well, I did NOT delete anything except unneccessary components and the entries in FeatureComponents table ARE.Is the component in question a file or a registry setting?
Both. First one is registry entry, second one is file.Are files external to your package, or inside .cab/.msi?
Well, Repackager created .cab file, but there are also external files (i.e. in ProgramFilesFolder, SystemFolder etc.)On the issue where it can't find the original package - does it take the .msi file when you point the installer to it?
This problem is solved, you were right, problem was in Product Code.Thanks